Sarugaku

Sarugaku, form of popular Japanese entertainment dating from at least the 11th century, which reached its high point by the 14th century. Originally, sarugaku involved mainly acrobatics, juggling, and mime. During the Heian period (794–1185) it was combined with drum dancing. Sarugaku helped give rise to the Nō and kyogen forms of drama.

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...was first seen by Westerners in the 1850s. It developed from the dengaku, a rice planting and harvesting ritual that was transformed into a courtly dance by the 14th century, and from the sarugaku, a popular entertainment involving acrobatics, mime, juggling, and music, which was later performed at religious festivals.

...period (794–1185) professional troupes, ostensibly attached to temples and shrines to draw crowds for festival days, combined these lively stage arts, now called sarugaku (literally, monkey or mimic music), with dancing to drums from dengaku and began to perform short plays consisting of alternate sections...

Kan’ami organized a theatre group in Obata to perform sarugaku (a form of popular drama that had apparently included tricks, acrobatics, and slapstick skits), which by his time had become plays with dialogue, acrobatics, and dances. He moved his troupe to Yamato and formed the Yūzaki Theatrical Company, which eventually became the highly influential Kanze school of Noh. His...